Want to know the best Jack Nicholson movies? How about the worst Jack Nicholson movies? Curious about Jack Nicholson’s box office grosses or which Jack Nicholson movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Jack Nicholson movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences or which one got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Jack Nicholson (1937-) is one of the most accomplished actors to ever appear in movies. He has been nominated twelve times for an Academy Award® for acting (winning three times). Nicholson has also picked up seventeen Golden Globe® nominations (winning five times). His big break was appearing in 1969’s Easy Rider. The part of George Hanson was actually written for another actor, Rip Torn, who dropped out of the film after a disagreement with director Dennis Hopper. Nicholson took over the role, received his first Oscar® nomination and has never looked back.
Since Easy Rider, Nicholson has appeared in one classic after another. In the 1970s, he appeared in the movies Five Easy Pieces, Carnal Knowledge, Chinatown, and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. The 1980s gave us Terms of Endearment, Reds, Prizzi’s Honor, Batman and Broadcast News. The 1990s gave us A Few Good Men and As Good As It Gets. In the 2000s he has made fewer movies, but still starred in The Departed and About Schmidt. His last starring role was in 2007’s The Bucket List and his last appearance on the screen was a supporting role in 2010’s How Do You Know. Currently he has no new projects listed on IMDb….I hope that does not mean that he has retired.
His IMDb page shows 75 acting credits from 1956-2010. This page will rank 48 Jack Nicholson movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and movies that were not released in theaters were not included in the rankings.
Jack Nicholson Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Year
Movie (Year)
Rating
S
Year Movie (Year) Rating S
1975
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
AA Best Picture Win
AA Best Actor Win
2006
The Departed (2006)
AA Best Picture Win
1983
Terms of Endearment (1983)
AA Best Picture Win
AA Best Supp Actor Win
1974
Chinatown (1974)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Actor Nom
1981
Reds (1981)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Supp Actor Nom
1970
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Actor Nom
1969
Easy Rider (1969)
AA Best Supp Actor Nom
1992
A Few Good Men (1992)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Supp Actor Nom
1987
Broadcast News (1987)
AA Best Picture Nom
1980
The Shining (1980)
1997
As Good as It Gets (1997)
AA Best Actor Win
1971
Carnal Knowledge (1971)
1989
Batman (1989)
2003
Something's Gotta Give (2003)
1987
The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
1975
Tommy (1975)
2002
About Schmidt (2002)
AA Best Actor Nom
1973
The Last Detail (1973)
AA Best Actor Nom
1994
Wolf (1994)
1985
Prizzi's Honor (1985)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Actor Nom
2003
Anger Management (2003)
1970
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970)
2007
The Bucket List (2007)
1975
The Passenger (1975)
1976
The Missouri Breaks (1976)
1963
The Raven (1963)
1996
Mars Attacks! (1996)
1981
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)
2001
The Pledge (2001)
1987
Ironweed (1987)
AA Best Actor Nom
1986
Heartburn (1986)
1960
The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
1982
The Border (1982)
1992
Hoffa (1992)
1978
Goin' South (1978)
1968
Head (1968)
1972
The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
1990
The Two Jakes (1990)
1964
Ensign Pulver (1964)
1971
Drive He Said (1971)
1966
Ride in the Whirlwind (1966)
Film Festival Circuit Only
1975
The Fortune (1975)
1995
The Crossing Guard (1995)
1968
Psych-Out (1968)
1996
Blood and Wine (1996)
1976
The Last Tycoon (1976)
1967
Hells Angels on Wheels (1967)
2010
How Do You Know (2010)
1963
The Terror (1963)
1971
A Safe Place (1971)
1996
The Evening Star (1996)
1960
Studs Lonigan (1960)
1992
Man Trouble (1992)
Jack Nicholson Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Jack Nicholson movies by co-stars of his movies
- Sort Jack Nicholson movies by actual domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost
- Sort Jack Nicholson movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost
- Sort Jack Nicholson movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Jack Nicholson movie received.
- Sort Jack Nicholson movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Actual B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | B.O. Rank by Year | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | S |
| 1 | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) AA Best Picture Win AA Best Actor Win |
Danny DeVito & Louise Fletcher |
109.00 | 664.5 | 995.60 | 3 | 90 | 09 / 05 | 99.9 | |
| 2 | The Departed (2006) AA Best Picture Win |
Leonardo DiCaprio & Matt Damon |
132.40 | 251.5 | 550.60 | 16 | 90 | 05 / 04 | 99.9 | |
| 3 | Terms of Endearment (1983) AA Best Picture Win AA Best Supp Actor Win |
Shirley MacLaine & Danny DeVito |
108.40 | 430.3 | 430.30 | 2 | 83 | 11 / 05 | 99.9 | |
| 4 | Chinatown (1974) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Actor Nom |
Faye Dunaway & John Huston |
29.20 | 195.2 | 195.20 | 17 | 94 | 11 / 01 | 99.7 | |
| 5 | Reds (1981) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Supp Actor Nom |
Warren Beatty & Diane Keaton |
40.40 | 181.6 | 181.60 | 13 | 84 | 12 / 03 | 99.2 | |
| 8 | Five Easy Pieces (1970) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Actor Nom |
Karen Black | 27.00 | 217.5 | 217.50 | 13 | 80 | 04 / 00 | 98.7 | |
| 6 | Easy Rider (1969) AA Best Supp Actor Nom |
Peter Fonda & Dennis Hopper |
54.60 | 480.4 | 480.40 | 3 | 86 | 02 / 00 | 98.4 | |
| 7 | A Few Good Men (1992) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Supp Actor Nom |
Tom Cruise & Directed by Rob Reiner |
141.30 | 425.7 | 732.70 | 5 | 76 | 04 / 00 | 98.2 | |
| 12 | Broadcast News (1987) AA Best Picture Nom |
William Hurt & Holly Hunter |
51.20 | 163.8 | 215.30 | 18 | 85 | 07 / 00 | 98.1 | |
| 9 | The Shining (1980) | Directed by Stanley Kubrick | 44.00 | 211.6 | 211.60 | 18 | 83 | 00 / 00 | 97.8 | |
| 9 | As Good as It Gets (1997) AA Best Actor Win |
Helen Hunt & Greg Kinnear |
148.50 | 404.4 | 855.60 | 6 | 73 | 07 / 02 | 97.2 | |
| 10 | Carnal Knowledge (1971) | Ann-Margret & Candice Bergen |
37.40 | 283.5 | 283.50 | 9 | 78 | 01 / 00 | 97.0 | |
| 11 | Batman (1989) | Michael Keaton & Kim Basinger |
249.90 | 786.8 | 1,291.10 | 1 | 75 | 01 / 01 | 96.5 | |
| 14 | Something's Gotta Give (2003) | Diane Keaton & Keanu Reeves |
124.70 | 258.6 | 552.90 | 16 | 71 | 01 / 00 | 95.1 | |
| 16 | The Witches of Eastwick (1987) | Michelle Pfeiffer & Susan Sarandon |
63.80 | 203.9 | 203.90 | 11 | 71 | 02 / 00 | 95.0 | |
| 15 | Tommy (1975) | Ann-Margret & Oliver Reed |
47.80 | 291.7 | 291.70 | 9 | 65 | 02 / 00 | 93.6 | |
| 17 | About Schmidt (2002) AA Best Actor Nom |
Kathy Bates | 65.00 | 140.1 | 230.70 | 41 | 85 | 02 / 00 | 93.5 | |
| 18 | The Last Detail (1973) AA Best Actor Nom |
Randy Quaid | 14.40 | 101.5 | 101.50 | 25 | 89 | 03 / 00 | 91.4 | |
| 21 | Wolf (1994) | Michelle Pfeiffer | 65.00 | 199.2 | 401.40 | 19 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 91.2 | |
| 20 | Prizzi's Honor (1985) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Actor Nom |
Angelica Huston & Directed by John Huston |
26.70 | 93.9 | 93.90 | 32 | 78 | 08 / 01 | 90.3 | |
| 19 | Anger Management (2003) | Adam Sandler | 135.60 | 281.2 | 405.80 | 12 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 89.0 | |
| 22 | On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) | Barbra Streisand | 16.20 | 130.7 | 130.70 | 22 | 74 | 00 / 00 | 88.4 | |
| 23 | The Bucket List (2007) | Morgan Freeman & Directed by Rob Reiner |
93.50 | 169.8 | 318.60 | 30 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 85.5 | |
| 24 | The Passenger (1975) | Maria Schneider | 5.50 | 33.3 | 33.30 | 67 | 89 | 00 / 00 | 81.8 | |
| 25 | The Missouri Breaks (1976) | Marlon Brando | 15.40 | 90.4 | 90.40 | 43 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 80.6 | |
| 26 | The Raven (1963) | Peter Lorre & Boris Karloff |
3.90 | 56.1 | 56.10 | 62 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 79.6 | |
| 27 | Mars Attacks! (1996) | Annette Benning & Michael J. Fox |
37.80 | 106.8 | 286.70 | 39 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 76.8 | |
| 28 | The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) | Jessica Lange | 15.60 | 70.0 | 70.00 | 55 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 75.8 | |
| 27 | The Pledge (2001) | Directed by Sean Penn | 19.70 | 43.7 | 65.10 | 101 | 76 | 00 / 00 | 75.3 | |
| 29 | Ironweed (1987) AA Best Actor Nom |
Meryl Streep | 7.40 | 23.6 | 23.60 | 92 | 78 | 02 / 00 | 73.7 | |
| 33 | Heartburn (1986) | Meryl Streep | 25.30 | 85.3 | 85.30 | 38 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 72.7 | |
| 31 | The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) | Directed by Roger Corman | 1.40 | 25.9 | 25.90 | 115 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 71.3 | |
| 32 | The Border (1982) | Harvey Keitel | 6.10 | 26.0 | 26.00 | 81 | 76 | 00 / 00 | 70.7 | |
| 35 | Hoffa (1992) | Danny DeVito | 24.30 | 73.1 | 88.30 | 52 | 59 | 02 / 00 | 69.4 | |
| 34 | Goin' South (1978) | John Belushi | 7.40 | 39.7 | 39.70 | 68 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 68.8 | |
| 36 | Head (1968) | The Monkeys | 2.10 | 20.4 | 20.40 | 114 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 60.1 | |
| 37 | The King of Marvin Gardens (1972) | Bruce Dern | 2.90 | 21.2 | 21.20 | 95 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 53.9 | |
| 38 | The Two Jakes (1990) | Harvey Keitel | 10.00 | 29.6 | 29.60 | 98 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 52.8 | |
| 39 | Ensign Pulver (1964) | Walter Matthau | 3.90 | 51.6 | 70.60 | 73 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 47.4 | |
| 40 | Drive He Said (1971) | Bruce Dern & Karen Black |
2.60 | 19.5 | 19.50 | 100 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 44.3 | |
| 41 | Ride in the Whirlwind (1966) Film Festival Circuit Only |
Rupert Crosse | 0.10 | 0.5 | 0.50 | 164 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 42.8 | |
| 42 | The Fortune (1975) | Warren Beatty | 9.10 | 55.4 | 55.40 | 51 | 48 | 00 / 00 | 42.2 | |
| 41 | The Crossing Guard (1995) | Directed by Sean Penn | 0.90 | 2.5 | 2.50 | 197 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 36.8 | |
| 43 | Psych-Out (1968) | Dean Stockwell | 1.50 | 14.8 | 14.80 | 139 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 35.7 | |
| 44 | Blood and Wine (1996) | Michael Caine | 1.10 | 3.1 | 3.10 | 197 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 32.5 | |
| 45 | The Last Tycoon (1976) | Robert DeNiro & Robert Mitchum |
3.50 | 20.5 | 20.50 | 95 | 53 | 01 / 00 | 30.2 | |
| 47 | Hells Angels on Wheels (1967) | Adam Roarke | 6.50 | 67.1 | 67.10 | 43 | 39 | 00 / 00 | 29.1 | |
| 46 | How Do You Know (2010) | Owen Wilson & Paul Rudd |
30.20 | 47.9 | 77.10 | 96 | 45 | 00 / 00 | 28.4 | |
| 48 | The Terror (1963) | Boris Karloff | 1.80 | 26.0 | 26.00 | 97 | 46 | 00 / 00 | 19.2 | |
| 49 | A Safe Place (1971) | Orson Welles | 2.40 | 18.4 | 18.40 | 105 | 46 | 00 / 00 | 14.7 | |
| 50 | The Evening Star (1996) | Shirley MacLaine | 12.80 | 36.1 | 36.10 | 111 | 39 | 00 / 00 | 13.4 | |
| 52 | Studs Lonigan (1960) | Jack Kruschen | 0.10 | 2.5 | 2.50 | 150 | 45 | 00 / 00 | 8.7 | |
| 51 | Man Trouble (1992) | Ellen Barkin | 4.10 | 12.3 | 12.30 | 129 | 32 | 00 / 00 | 2.0 |
Jack Nicholson Has 12 Oscar® and 17 Golden Globe® Nominations
1. 1969’s Easy Rider….nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar®
2. 1970’s Five Easy Pieces….nominated for a Best Actor Oscar®
3. 1971’s Carnal Knowledge….nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe®
4. 1973’s The Last Detail….nominated for a Best Actor Oscar®
5. 1974’s Chinatown….nominated for a Best Actor Oscar®…won Golden Globe®
6. 1975’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest…..won Best Actor Oscar® and Golden Globe®
7. 1981’s Reds….nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar®
8. 1983’s Terms of Endearment….won Best Supporting Actor Oscar® and Golden Globe®
9. 1985’s Prizzi’s Honor….nominated for a Best Actor Oscar®….won Golden Globe®
10. 1987’s Ironweed….nominated for a Best Actor Oscar®
11. 1989’s Batman…..nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe®
12. 1992’s A Few Good Men….nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar®
13. 1992’s Hoffa…..nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe®
14. 1997’s As Good As It Gets….won Best Actor Oscar®
15. 2002’s About Schmidt….nominated for a Best Actor Oscar®…won Golden Globe®
16. 2003’s Somethings Gotta Give…..nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe®
17. 2006’s The Departed……nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe®
Check out Jack Nicholson‘s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
If you do a comment….please ignore the email address and website section.
Another one I’m a big fan of, just for his perfect choice of his roles he’s played over the years they seemed to be just right for him and him alone to be playing. Another actor I’m afraid our younger generations will be lost on however.
I agree Fluffy77…..his older movies are classic but I know my teenagers think a movie made before 2010 is a waste of time to watch…..my 18 year old always asks….”Hey pops tell me a good movie to watch tonight”….I always suggest One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest….and after two years of recommending the movie he has yet to watch it…..American Pie 43 also gets picked ahead of classic Jack….time marches on.
Incredible research. I am big Jack fan and enjoyed the page. I hope Jack will give us at least another 10years of great performances.
Thank you The Musiconomy…..I also would like to see another 10 years from Jack…..since 2003 he has only made 3 movies…..and he has no movies listed currently on IMDB….he might join Gene Hackman in retirement. Thanks for stopping by.
Jack Nicholson is one of my favorites! I haven’t seen quite a bit of his movies though, better get started!
Welcome back yenajeon….it has been awhile…glad to see you back on CogersonMovieScore pages…thanks for reading my page
Absolute best actor ever! I can’t believe there’s a couple movies on this list I haven’t seen…have to add them to my future rent list. Thanks!
Hey theherbirehippi thanks for reading my Jack page…..it is hard to argue that Jack is not one the best actors ever….nobody can match his Oscar wins….I just watched How Do You Know…..and he was the best part in that movie as well….it would have been so much better if they would have concentrated on his character.
i am a big fan of jack…more especially his roles in the shining and the witches of eastwick! great table you made…wow super detailed and accurate! great job, as always. 🙂
Thanks for the compliment kittythedreamer….I watched a behind the scenes special feature of filming of The Shining….Jack was so damn cool…..running with Kubrick’s punches….back then and now you could tell that he knew how lucky and great his life was and is…..I like that in a celebrity…thanks for reading and commenting